Marvel Heroes Continues 'Red, White, and Loot' Through Next Week

Gaming companies love a good real-world tie-in and Gazillion is certainly no different. As a great portion of America is dusting off long abandoned grills in preparation for Friday, these companies are also either in full swing of their version of celebrations or just starting to ramp them up. If they're like Marvel Heroes, they've been celebrating all week with Canada Day at the first of the month.

Red, White, and Loot runs through next Tuesday, where the final event, X-Defense/S.H.I.E.L.D. Holo-Sim is at 3:00am PDT. Until then, there is a rotating schedule regarding bonuses for three different game modes, which switches every three hours. Players can enjoy collecting soccer balls and hot dogs, which they can then trade in for crafting materials and other goods. The other two game modes that offer bonuses during this time are Midtown Patrol and Terminals.

X-Defense is a solo or team played instance that takes place in Xavier's Mansion and you must defend it through waves of enemies that become progressively harder. Terminals are instances staring bosses and enemies from the story line and are pretty short. The S.H.I.E.L.D. Holo-Sim is another wave defense instance for you and 1-2 other people. Midtown Patrol is an instance full of enemies to defeat, with waves of bosses that drop loot every few minutes.

So, now that you know what to do and when to do it, here's where the soccer balls and hot dogs come into play. In Marvel Heroes, there is a cash/item dump system where you can level up vendors by donating to them, such as a crafter and an enchanter. If you don't already have your systems maxxed out, donate the soccer balls and hot dogs to them to get them leveled. Plus, you can get a hot dog stand.

Throughout the weekend, players can also enjoy a +50% boost to SIF (Special Item Find) and RIF (Rare Item Find). Gazillion is also extending both the Summer BBQ event and the Soccer Showdown event (hence the soccer balls and hot dogs). Wolverine and Captain America are currently 25% off, to celebrate Canada Day and Independence Day. To see the full schedule for the rotating modes, click here and details on the current available events, here.

As much as I love a good in-game event, I'm a bit torn when it becomes another way to monetize games. While I'm a sucker for good fluff items through marketplaces (I've bought a shameful amount of dye packs since beginning Guild Wars 2 and I've blown all of my Station Cash over the years almost exclusively on decorations and other housing items in various versions of Norrath), but taking an opportunity to cash in on holidays makes me feel a bit uneasy. I get it, people don't like subscribing anymore, and more companies are turning to the (not so) free-to-play model. They've got server costs and developers like getting paid. Is there a way to come up with a happy medium here?

Last Updated:
July 3, 2014

About The Author

Patsy "Vendolyn" Anderson

Vendolyn's been playing MMOs since 1999, although Vendolyn in-game often becomes a long-term shelved alt. When she's not gaming, she's likely marathoning some questionable TV show or babbling about music to no end. She really likes goats.